Horror

A great return to form for horror movies. I've always loved anthology films and this one belongs near the top of the list. Great cast, great atmosphere and the perfect movie for Halloween.

A great addition to the hard to nail horror comedy scene. This film may not be very deep but it's hilarious and a lot of fun. While being no "Shaun of the Dead", this is still an effective send up of the more recent post-modern zombie flicks. It also has the greatest cameo in film history.

John Landis' black horror classic and one of the few werewolf films out there that can be called good. Performances are all around great, and Rick Baker's effects are a well known success. If you've never seen this classic, check it out.

A micro-budget masterpiece that is both starkly chilling and blackly humorous. Perhaps the finest film inspired by a real life serial killer, and one that can only be rivaled by "Psycho", or the "Texas Chainsaw Massacre".

One of the finest, funniest, and most disturbing films ever made in Japan and the world. The film's ability to operate like a genre chameleon is the key to it's success here as well as its ability to inject deep meaning into horrendous torture.

This zom-com is considered to be an instant classic and for good reason. Pegg and company manage to encapsulate, cap off, and put the final word in on an entire genre. They succeed where Romero has failed in his last two attempts, and he would admit this, and has. A truly important, hilarious, and satisfying film.

One of the many holiday slashers from the 80's, this film sadly fails to live up to its marketing campaign, and only comes remotely close during its final set piece. Thanks to Anchor Bay, the latest DVD release restores the original score to the film that was sadly lacking from the old DVD. Unfortunately, it'll take a lot more than music to save this picture. Low on kills, plot, characters, or brains, this is for slasher completists only.

This well acted, written and shot thriller is one of the more underrated of the 80's. Featuring a career making performance by Terry O'Quinn, the film is still very affective and proves it has legs even after being released 22 years ago. If your not familiar with the film, be sure to check out the new Shout! Factory DVD.

With an intriguing concept, Final Destination manages to grab the viewer from the very get go. However, as the story progresses, you realize that the filmmakers don't know where to go with their story and hollow characters. This leads to an unsatisfactory ending that, in fact, isn't an ending at all. A great disappointment of a film, which elaborate set pieces simply don't make up for. In the end, the entire affair is a lost opportunity.

This surreal, adbsurdist, nightmare/comedy from director Takashi Miike can only be described as Miike does Lynch, a fact Miike himself admits to freely. At turns both freaky, and hilarious, Miike manages to craft a superb cinematic dreamscape featuring many yakuza genre stalwarts. The film is sublimely fucked up from beginning to end, and one of Miike's best.

This low budget slasher cash-in from the 80's, while suffering from a poor cast and script, manages a certain thrift store charm, thanks to its excellent locations and satisfying kills. It's also a nice touch that the film is scored by Harry Manfredini, who composed the score for the original Friday the 13th. Still, there's nothing really special or noteworthy going on here, and I can only recommend this to slasher aficionados/completists.

Another in the recent trend of shaky cam movies manages to be admirable, simply for its low budget, grass roots success story. Sadly, the film itself cannot live up to the hype. While the half of the film is mostly effective, freaky, goings on, the other half is simply two mostly unlikable people bickering. It doesn't help that the ending lacks any real impact and is far too derivative of [REC]. Still, it does have its effective moments. Just don't expect anything special.

This is cult fan fave Neil Marshall's first film and easily the most fun werewolf film out there. On a tiny budget Marshall manages to pack the film with great actors, action, gore, and humor. Good werewolf movies are hard to do, but Mashall not only pulls it off here, he pulls it off on his first flick. Bravo.

While I picked this up on Rue Morgue's positive recommendation, what the magazine failed to mention is that, while the film may be an accurate adaptation of the game, that doesn't mean it's any good. Bereft of acting, plot, or budget, Oneechanbara or Bikini Samurai Squad, starts out with a certain CGI laden zombified charm, but quickly wears out its welcome once the chi energy starts flying, and the plot never takes off. You'll be 'un'dying for this to end by the one hour mark. Unless you love CGI, no-budget actioners masquerading as horror films, then take a pass on this one.

This low budget workman like sequel is a mostly satisfying follow up to the original classic. Terry O'Quinn returns, this time with the excellent Meg Foster and Caroline Williams. Other than the performances, there's nothing really special going on here. One can't help but feel that the director's original version would've been more satisfactory than the final, studio interfered version. Thankfully, you can see most of the original footage on the Synapse DVD.

While this film is a testament to Lucio Fulci's abilities as a visual and cinematographical master, the lack of engaging plot, and I'm afraid, the downright silliness of a killer who quacks like a duck, render the film rather disappointing in the conventional sense. Unless your a major gorehound, or a big Fulci fan, I'd skip this one.

Richard Stanley's bizarre horror epic can be a bit of an acquired taste. It's style is a strange cross between Walkabout, Ken Russell, and Leone. Still, if your into weird artsy horror flicks with lots of metaphysical shit going on, you'll probably love this. Stanley definitely has a unique vision and in my opinion a satisfying one, which renders this film an usual treat.

Richard Stanley's first theatrical film plays like a low rent, punk rock version of Terminator, but structured like a home invasion horror flick, with all the gory trappings. The visuals, especially on the new blu-ray are impressive, and definitely bares a second watch if you've only seen it on shitty old tapes. This is a both a unique film, and a familiar one, but if your a fan of the weird or extreme, you should give it a shot.

One of the most fun and gory slasher films of the 80's comes right at the end of the decade thanks to director Scott Spiegel and Producer Lawrence Bender. On display here are the talents of a fledgling KNB in the form of amazing gore effects. The fact that Danny Hicks from Evil Dead 2, Sam Raimi and Ted Raimi are in the flick (along with cameo from Bruce Campbell) certainly helps the humor element. One of my favorite B flicks of all time.

This insanely creepy and atmospheric horror short is the first original project from director David Prior, who up until this point, has only done "making of" docs for DVDs. Prior works some miracles here on the budget he has to work with and manages to achieve what most modern, feature length horror flicks can't. This was also the winner of the H.P. Lovecraft film festival's Best of the Festival and Best Horror Film awards.

This cheesy monster flick is high on fun and gore, but low on plot. Thankfully a lot of the shortcomings are made up for by an genuinely stellar cast of both young actors (Zach Galligan, Deborah Foreman, Michelle Johnson, and Dana Ashbrook), and genre vets (David Warner, Patrick Macnee, John Rhys-Davies). All in all, this is a good popcorn flick, and well worth a watch.

This simple, yet effective slasher film stars Amber Heard as the beautiful Mandy Lane. As the title suggests, all the boys are dying to get into Mandy's pants. The boys are so tenacious in fact, that one of them will literally do anything. While the kills here aren't anything too special, what really helps the film is the performances of its young actors, particularly Heard, as well as the quality direction of Jonathan Levine. Recommended for the curious, and the lovers of cute girls.

One of the few werewolf movies of the last decade and quite possibly the best (only rivaled by its sequel in all honesty), Ginger Snaps manages to take the tongue in cheek elements and structure of An American Werewolf in London, and not only update it for a modern audience, but bring a truly female perspective to the proceedings for the first time. Katherine Isabelle and Emily Perkins carry practically the entire weight of the film on their shoulders and succeed with flying colors. An instant genre classic.

While this return to horror for Director Sam Raimi is a bit uneven in tone, it provides a goodly amount of zany, gross, bloody horror antics as seen in his earlier Evil Dead films, while mixing in enough originality to keep the genre vets entertained. Recommended for a good time, just check your brain at the door.

Stuart Gordon on his first directorial outing manages to create one of the best horror films of the 80's. The film manages to blend chills, laughs, and gore seamlessly, and also features a career making performance by the one and only Jeffrey Combs. The less I say the better, just go check it out.